Associations of perceived pain and painless TMD‐related symptoms with alexithymia and depressive mood in media personnel with or without irregular shift work

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to analyze whether previously emerged pain symptoms and painless temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptoms are associated with alexithymia and self‐rated depression among media personnel in or not in irregular shift work. A standardized questionnaire was mailed to all employees of the Finnish Broadcasting Company in irregular shift work (n = 750) and to an equal number of randomly selected controls in regular 8‐h daytime work. The questionnaire covered demographic items, employment details, general health experience, physical status, psychosomatic symptoms, psychosocial status, stress, work satisfaction and performance, and health-care use. Studied age groups, marital status, gender or perceived health were not significantly associated with alexithymia in the bivariate analyses. Most studied painless TMD symptoms associated significantly with alexithymia. Alexithymia was also significantly more prevalent among those who reported having more often than average neck pain (P<0.05), head pain (P<0.01), and tender teeth (P<0.01). According to logistic regression, the probability of alexithymia was significantly positively associated with pain symptoms (P<0.01) and painless TMD-related symptoms (P<0.01), and significantly negatively associated with female gender (P<0.01). Additionally, depressive mood was significantly positively associated with dissatisfaction of one's work-shift schedule (P<0.05), and poorer health experience (P<0.01). Neither alexithymia nor depression was associated with irregular shift work in itself. In conclusion, depressive mood may be a sign of dissatisfaction and impaired well‐being. In the case of perhaps less disabling but common physical symptoms alexithymia as a possible underlying factor may be relevant in the diagnosis and management of such disorders.